Chapter 51 "I won't dislike it..."
At the bar entrance, the lights from the round sign cast a hazy, neon-colored glow on the ground.
Ye Ji, with two bags slung over his shoulders, coaxed and carried Jiang Nuanyu out. The night air was cool, but fortunately there was no wind, so it wasn't too cold, and Ye Ji didn't put a scarf on her.
After stumbling down two steps, Jiang Nuanyu's legs suddenly gave way, and she was about to fall.
Ye Ji took a big step forward, hurriedly stood in front of her, and supported her by resting his shoulder on her chin.
She turned her head and asked with great difficulty, "Are you alright?"
Jiang Nuanyu opened her eyes, but before she could even see her surroundings clearly, she felt dizzy and couldn't tell where she was.
She closed her eyes again and squeezed out a few words: "Um... dizzy..." After saying that, she seemed to feel even more uncomfortable, panting heavily and making some strange groans uncontrollably.
Ye Ji, wearing high heels, could only barely support Jiang Nuanyu while keeping herself from falling.
Half a minute later, she turned her head to look at the roadside and just then a Maybach stopped in the parking area.
After getting out of the car, Liang Qi glanced at the bar entrance and strode towards the two of them. Only when he got closer did he realize just how drunk Jiang Nuanyu really was.
He frowned immediately and reached out to help her.
Ye Ji moved the person towards Liang Qi and said, "She's even more drunk now, why don't we take her home first? Is there anything else..."
"No, I won't go back..." Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuanyu, who was not fully conscious, immediately began to dodge and resist, "I won't go back..."
Her commotion caused her already turbulent brain to shake violently once more. She was in so much pain that her eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and her small face turned pale under the light.
Liang Qi restrained her hands, preventing her from struggling further. His expression was difficult to decipher, but his tone was gentle as he softly coaxed her, half-embracing her shoulder, "Don't move, okay?"
“Yes, yes, otherwise it would be even more uncomfortable, ah—” Ye Ji also said.
Jiang Nuanyu stopped, lowered her head and stared blankly for two seconds, then suddenly opened her arms and lunged forward, tightly wrapping her arms around the waist of the person in front of her.
Her movement was so sudden that Liang Qi was forced to straighten up, instinctively reaching out to protect her. She buried her head in his chest, sobbing softly, sounding incredibly aggrieved: "I don't want to go home...no..."
She clung to him, but her legs couldn't support her weight. Liang Qi held her lower back with one hand and gently patted her back with the other to comfort her.
After a while, her crying subsided a bit. He lowered his head, bringing it close to hers, and asked in a soft voice, "Are you feeling better? Let's get in the car, okay?"
Jiang Nuanyu remained pressed close to him, not saying a word, but instead began to sob and cry, her sobs heartbreaking.
Ye Ji was extremely worried and secretly regretted letting her drink so much.
Liang Qi also frowned slightly, pursed his lips, and momentarily lost his temper.
She didn't respond to him, but standing outside like that wasn't going to work. He freed one hand to untie the hands tied around his waist.
Jiang Nuanyu tightened her grip and said urgently, "I'm not going home, I'm not leaving."
She wouldn't let go, and Liang Qi didn't use brute force. He lowered his head again and said, "Then let's not go home yet." He spoke gently, "Let go of me, and I'll take you to the car. We won't stand outside. Is that okay?"
Ye Ji glanced at Liang Qi awkwardly, and couldn't help but think to himself: How can you reason with someone who's this drunk?
To her surprise, Jiang Nuanyu actually listened to Liang Qi and gradually loosened her grip.
Ye Ji's eyes almost popped out.
Both methods involved coaxing, but when she was helping Jiang Nuanyu put on her coat, the scene looked like a battle.
That's unfair.
How come I never noticed before? This guy values women more than friends!
But this is for the best; at least we managed to trick them into getting on the bus.
With Jiang Nuanyu no longer restraining him, Liang Qiteng reached out and scooped her up in his arms. Despite wearing winter clothes, the person in his arms felt incredibly light.
He looked down at her face, which was even thinner than when they last met, and his brows furrowed even more deeply.
Liang Qi put Jiang Nuanyu in the back seat. Ye Ji was worried that Jiang Nuanyu would get drunk on the way back and he would find it troublesome, so he offered, "Why don't I sit in the back and take care of her?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuanyu, who had just come to a stop, turned to the side and reached her hand out of the car, grabbing Liang Qi's clothes.
Whether she was too drunk to control her strength or was genuinely afraid that Liang Qi would leave, she really put in a lot of effort, causing him to sway slightly as she was pulled.
This seemingly minor movement was, to Jiang Nuanyu, like a tidal wave. She suddenly stretched her neck and bent her upper body down, as if she were about to vomit.
Afraid that she would lose her balance and hit her head on the ground, Liang Qi immediately reached out and supported her forehead; Ye Ji was even quicker and quickly put Jiang Nuanyu's Burberry scarf in her hand to cushion it.
Rather than vomiting on Liang Qi, she thought Jiang Nuanyu wouldn't feel bad.
Fortunately, she didn't vomit. After gagging, she breathed heavily with her mouth slightly open, and slowly subsided, though her hand still clung to Liang Qi's clothes.
Liang Qi helped her sit back down, then stood up and glanced at Ye Ji.
Ye Ji immediately understood what was going on, smiled at him, silently turned around, and got into the passenger seat.
The car started slowly, and the driver drove very steadily, changing lanes whenever possible, but traffic lights were inevitable. Whenever the car's speed changed, Jiang Nuanyu's expression would tighten with unease.
The red light countdown ended, then the green light appeared. As they started moving again, Liang Qi glanced at her, but quickly looked away out the window.
He felt uneasy, but couldn't quite put his finger on why.
As the car drove onto the overpass and made a sharp 270-degree turn, Jiang Nuanyu became so dizzy that she could hardly bear it. She curled her arms up in front of her, rested her head on the seat, and swayed uncontrollably.
Liang Qi bit his chin, finally reaching out to grasp the back of her neck, pulling her head towards him, and at the same time slightly tilting his shoulder to let her lean into his arms.
She leaned against him, her face pressed against his shoulder. She tilted her head back, her heavy breaths carrying the strong, sweet scent of alcohol, her warm breaths spraying onto his chin and neck.
Her panting breaths were like tiny snakes, finding their way, crawling up his neck and specifically towards his ears. He instinctively tilted his head, trying to create some distance.
He stared straight ahead, his brows slightly furrowed, while his hand gently stroked her hair, trying to soothe her pain.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the residential complex, Ye Ji instructed the driver to proceed to the entrance of the underground parking garage.
The license plate did not meet the authorization requirements and could not be driven in. Ye Ji rolled down the window and earnestly and politely explained the situation to the security guard, repeatedly assuring him that he would not linger for a long time and disturb the order. Only then did the guard reluctantly let him pass.
Ye Ji had never been down to the underground parking garage of Jiang Nuanyu's residential area before, so he couldn't give directions anymore. He could only stick his head out and slowly search around with the driver, following the signs.
Jiang Nuanyu had just recovered a little in Liang Qi's arms when this incident caused her head to churn again.
She swallowed, her throat swelling, and cried out in discomfort, "I feel so dizzy... I feel so nauseous..." Her cries were helpless and pitiful, so fragile that they sounded like a plea.
Liang Qi frowned and glanced at the garage outside the car window. He was already trying to drive as smoothly as possible, but he still said to the driver, "Drive a little slower."
Therefore, the driver can only slow down the car as much as possible.
Finally, we found the building where Jiang Nuanyu lived, and the car stopped at the entrance.
Ye Ji got out of the car, opened the back door, popped his head inside, patted Jiang Nuanyu's shoulder, and said, "We're home. Let's go home."
"I won't go back!" Jiang Nuanyu reacted suddenly, bursting into tears and grabbing Liang Qi's waist haphazardly.
"I won't go home, I won't leave." Already tearing up from motion sickness, she cried even harder now, "I don't want to go, don't make me leave... Waaah..."
She was irrational tonight, and now she was sobbing loudly like a spoiled child.
She wrapped both arms around Liang Qi, pulling his suit jacket askew.
Seeing her like this, Ye Ji wanted to try to comfort her, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that she probably didn't have the ability.
Liang Qi glanced at the girl who was crying in his arms and said, "Let her stay for a while."
"Alright..." Ye Ji nodded with a dry laugh, having no choice but to hand the person over to Liang Qi again.
After getting out, she closed the car door behind her.
The car was running, and the air was circulating inside and outside.
Jiang Nuanyu cried for a while, and probably got tired of crying. Her breathing gradually calmed down, and she became as quiet as if she had fallen asleep.
Liang Qi looked down and saw that her eyes and nose were red from crying. The smell of alcohol had dissipated, her lips were bright red, and her cheeks were stained with two deep red patches that showed through her skin after drinking.
Her eyes were closed, and although she was quiet, her brows were tightly furrowed, indicating that she was still in pain.
As he watched, he couldn't help but raise his hand and gently stroke her eyebrow with his thumb.
But this comforting gesture only made her brows furrow even more tightly. She gasped for breath a few times, and the tears that had stopped for a moment started flowing again, seeping through her eyelashes.
This time, she didn't say anything.
Liang Qi used the back of his finger to wipe away the tear stains under her eyes, but the tears flowed uncontrollably like a broken faucet.
He paused, his hand hovering in mid-air, then carefully wiped it off for her.
He stared back and forth at her tightly closed eyes, and although he had no hope that she would answer, he still asked, "Why are you crying?"
His voice was very soft, as if he were asking himself rather than Jiang Nuanyu.
So she didn't answer him.
*
Ye Ji waited outside the car for more than ten minutes, but the person inside still didn't move. After gently knocking on the car window, she opened the car door a little bit.
Liang Qi leaned slightly to one side, still maintaining a tolerant posture, while Jiang Nuanyu obediently nestled in his arms. He supported her back with one hand, and perhaps to make her more comfortable, he even placed one knee across the edge of the seat, pressing it against her lower body.
Ye Ji bent down, and Liang Qi looked up at her.
Seeing that Jiang Nuanyu didn't seem to be still drunk, Ye Ji asked softly, "Asleep?"
No, of course not.
As soon as Ye Ji opened the car door, Liang Qi felt a hand on his waist squeeze his shirt tightly.
He shook his head at her, his expression calm, but Ye Ji didn't know what to do.
She stood silently by the car door, staring blankly at Liang Qi—she had given up hope of persuading Jiang Nuanyu to go home.
Liang Qi glanced at his watch, took a breath, and then leaned close to her face before speaking. The question he asked was, "Are you thirsty?"
Jiang Nuanyu remained still and did not answer.
Liang Qi touched her damp temples: "How about drinking some water?"
The person in my arms still didn't respond.
Liang Qi was speechless for a moment.
Earlier, at the bar entrance, he had managed to coax her into his car. Although she was quite drunk, he felt a little guilty about having to lie to her again.
After a while, he licked his lips and finally coaxed, "If you don't want water, I'll take you home, okay?"
When Ye Ji heard the words "go home," his heart jumped into his throat.
This word seemed to have become taboo for Jiang Nuanyu tonight. She was really afraid that she would start crying and making a fuss again because of it.
To her surprise, Jiang Nuanyu not only didn't cry or make a fuss, but also leaned back in her seat following Liang Qi's movements.
Ye Ji: "..."
She only realized later that the key to her repeated failures that day was not the word "go home," but the word "I" in "I'll take you home."
Inside the ascending elevator, the bright light from the ceiling made Jiang Nuanyu frown.
Emerging from the bar, a severe dizziness kept her eyes almost constantly closed. Only now, stimulated by the light, did she slowly open her eyelids.
In a pale halo of light, she gradually saw the person holding her, and her nose suddenly felt sore.
It really is him.
Liang Qi noticed her gaze and looked down, only to see that her eyes were closed, but a large tear suddenly slid down from the corner of her eye.
Looking at her tear, he thought of the unanswered question he had asked her in the car earlier.
The elevator quickly reached the 7th floor. Ye Ji used Jiang Nuanyu's fingers to unlock the door. Without even changing her shoes, she rushed to the sofa and pulled over a cushion so that Liang Qi could put her down.
She went to the kitchen to pour Jiang Nuanyu a glass of warm water. When she turned around, she saw Liang Qi leaning back on the sofa with one hand on the back, in a slightly awkward position.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Jiang Nuanyu was still holding onto the person tightly.
She walked to the sofa, bent down, and asked in Liang Qi's "effective," half-gentle, half-soft tone, "Would you like some water?"
Jiang Nuanyu kept her eyes closed and remained silent; Ye Ji pursed her lips and had no choice but to temporarily put the cup on the coffee table.
In that short time, Liang Qi finally managed to untangle one of Jiang Nuanyu's hands. He accommodated her, bending his long legs and sitting sideways on the edge of the sofa.
Under the light of the living room lamp, Ye Ji noticed that Liang Qi's clothes had large and small wet stains on them.
She glanced at the "culprit" lying on the sofa and felt it was necessary to defend her image.
"Uh... actually, she usually has a pretty good alcohol tolerance and rarely gets drunk. Even if she does drink a lot, she's not... well, she's basically not like that..."
Halfway through her sentence, Ye Ji suddenly remembered that the last time she brought Jiang Nuanyu back after she had drunk too much, she had also cried her eyes out.
She wondered why Jiang Nuanyu had developed this habit of crying when she was drunk. She wondered how much she would regret it when she sobered up tomorrow.
Liang Qi listened to Ye Ji's words, tilting his head slightly, his gaze landing lightly on Jiang Nuanyu's face. He didn't respond to her words, nor did he show any reaction.
Ye Ji swallowed nervously. Compared to Jiang Nuanyu, she was even more uncomfortable with this silent confrontation with Liang Qi.
He didn't speak, and she instinctively wanted to explain: "She's like this tonight because she's not in a good mood," her mouth was faster than her brain, "She's leaving tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Liang Qi looked up at her. Meeting his gaze, Ye Ji's eyes flickered, sensing something was amiss—
broken……
Her lips twitched; she wanted to laugh but couldn't.
She was just thinking about how to make amends so that Jiang Nuanyu wouldn't kill her after she sobered up tomorrow when she saw Liang Qi turn his gaze to the two large suitcases standing in the entrance hall.
He looked at it for two seconds and then looked away, still not saying much and showing no emotion, maintaining that inscrutable poker face.
Seeing that although he was clearly unaware of Jiang Nuanyu's schedule, Ye Ji didn't seem too surprised, at least she didn't see any surprise in him, and a glimmer of hope ignited in her heart.
She tentatively asked, "Mr. Liang, do you know about her... going abroad to work?"
Liang Qi looked at her: "I know."
"Oh~~" Ye Ji felt as if she had been granted a pardon. "That's good, that's good..."
She was only concerned with her temporary safety with Jiang Nuanyu, but didn't realize that her reaction was too much.
Liang Qi looked at her and suddenly curved his lips into a smile, but it didn't seem like he was smiling at her.
His eyes were bright and sharp as he said, "She doesn't want me to know she's leaving tomorrow?"
"No," Ye Ji answered immediately, then worried that it might be too absolute, so she quickly corrected herself, "I don't think so..."
Liang Qi seemed to have already found the answer. He nodded, relaxed his lips, and looked away.
Ye Ji smiled palely, but a sense of unease crept into his heart.
Liang Qi's reaction was completely unexpected. Every reaction he made tonight was beyond her expectations.
And it seems that she said something that might change the course of their relationship without Jiang Nuanyu's knowledge.
Just as she was getting anxious, Liang Qi suddenly said, "Let's do it her way."
Ye Ji was even more confused: What did he mean by that?
Liang Qi stood up and looked at her: "Are you staying with her tonight?"
"Huh?" Ye Ji responded subconsciously, but his mind was racing.
After several exchanges, she had fully grasped Liang Qi's extremely sharp and meticulous thinking. At the same time, he always spoke with hidden meanings, never explicitly stating his intentions. It was too easy to be manipulated by someone like him.
She carefully analyzed the potential pitfalls in his question, and after confirming that Jiang Nuanyu wouldn't be sold out more completely because of her answer, she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll sleep with her."
Having received an affirmative answer, Liang Qi nodded slightly and looked away.
Before leaving, he glanced at the water glass on the coffee table and said, "She drank a lot but didn't vomit. The alcohol was all absorbed and won't be metabolized easily. Let her drink some water before bed."
Ye Ji quickly replied, "Okay."
Liang Qi nodded to her again before turning and leaving.
He had only taken a few steps when Jiang Nuanyu, who had been lying quietly, suddenly curled up and began to sob.
Liang Qi turned around, and Ye Ji squatted down next to Jiang Nuanyu before him, gently patting her arm to comfort her: "Don't cry."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Nuanyu went from sobbing to wailing.
Ye Ji felt that telling her not to cry was pointless at this point, so she said instead, "Cry, cry, it'll make you feel better. Cry."
Rephrasing it did work; Jiang Nuanyu cried even harder…
"I don't want to..." she mumbled between sobs.
Ye Ji didn't understand and asked, "What don't you want to do?"
"I don't want to leave... I don't want to..." Jiang Nuanyu said intermittently.
"It's not like you're never coming back," Ye Ji comforted her. "It's alright, okay?"
"Don't be with other people..." Jiang Nuanyu reached out and hugged Ye Ji's neck tightly, sobbing as she rested her chin on her shoulder. "...I'm lying, I won't dislike you, please don't be with other people, okay? Can you please not have other people's affections..."
Ye Ji was taken aback, realizing that these words were probably not directed at him.
She gently patted Jiang Nuanyu's back while glancing at the man standing a few steps away out of the corner of her eye.
"If you don't look back..." A lump suddenly formed in her throat, but she still sobbed, "Then don't look forward either, okay?...Wait for me, okay?"
Ye Ji remained silent, and the figure in her peripheral vision seemed unmoved as well.
The living room, neither too big nor too small, was filled with the sound of Jiang Nuanyu crying, yet it felt so empty and quiet.
"If you let me choose, if you let me have the final say... then I want you to wait for me, okay..." she repeated sadly, her heart breaking, "I want you to wait for me to come back, okay..."
She cried inconsolably, and her sobs grew softer and softer.
Suddenly, she murmured weakly; finally, she called out his name: "Liang Qi..."
The living room remained quiet, but the air within it seemed to vibrate and then explode with the sound.
"Liang Qi, wait for me to come back, okay..."
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